'Truancy' means leaving or not showing up for compulsory education (such as high school), whereas 'loitering' means to hang about in a public place.
Truancy
Playing truant is also known as:
- Skipping school
- Cutting class
- Ditching
- Bunking off
- Playing hookey
If you get caught playing truant, your punishment may vary from you receiving detention to your parents getting in trouble with the law, depending on where you live.
Loitering
Loitering is often known as 'hanging' or 'chilling', but these words have a much broader sense. 'Loitering' means staying in a public place - like a parking lot or a shopping mall - for an extended amount of time, and with no real purpose.
Anti-loitering laws are particularly common in the US, and are often enforced to prevent gang behaviour, begging and sleeping rough.